Divine Grail
by Blazinghand
Summary: With only four combatants left, the Fourth Divine Grail War is coming to a close. Emiya Kiritsugu has fought long and hard to make it this far, gradually growing his expertise and knowledge of the other combatants, trying to find the perfect time to strike. Everything would have been going according to plan, but with each passing day, each hour, his servant's memories are fading...
1. Dawn

**Weber**

The two of them made for a strange pair, walking down the road away from the mountaintop home. It would be difficult to find two men so un-alike in appearance and demeanor. The red-haired man was over 6 feet tall, hairy, bearded, and built like a Greek god. His bulging muscles were apparent even through his Admirable Grand Strategy promotional t-shirt. He stretched in the predawn light and patted his companion on the back, his massive hand swinging through the air with inhuman grace. The young man took the pat with only a small stumble. Slim and short, he looked like a stiff gust of wind might be enough to blow him over.

The large man said: "Weber," and gestured. They both squinted off towards the south, eyeing the light show. "Is it some code?"

11 mana flares gloated gloriously in the air. 4 flew first in violet, and as they slowly floated down on the wind, 7 more in green joined them.

Weber concentrated on the pattern, then realization flickered across his soft features. He opened his mouth to speak, then swallowed, then tried again. "It… it's standard magecraft signal language. 4 violet, 7 green. Success and victory, in immediate succession."

His right hand cradled his chin and he sat down on the half-wall that ran alongside the mountain highway. "Does this mean it's over? You would never announce your position like that with magic, not against… no, those flares are to the south. If the mediator were announcing our victory and inviting us to ask our Questions, those flares would come from the center of town… so the mediator didn't send the message…"

The large man interrupted, "it's not the mediator. Someone is setting the pace, declaring victory. They mean to claim the prize, and announce their intent to do so. They challenge us, with this brazen announcement. We must respond to the taunt, lest we acknowledge their claim."

"What of our allies?" countered Weber, "should we not consult with them?"

"They did not launch these flares," said the giant, "they lack the brazenness for something like this. And of our enemies, I doubt the beast would be conscious enough to issue a reasoned statement, nor understand the implications. No, this can only be the work of the Hero King, Gilgamesh. He alone has the claim, and it cannot go unmet. I, Alexander, The Conquering King, am the only manifested Heroic Spirit with the standing to contest it. Come, boy. We ride to battle."

Alexander the Great slashed his sword, and tore a gap in the membrane between this world and the next. An enormous black horse came galloping through, slowing to a halt by the warrior. It snorted, then nuzzled its head against the man's hand. The two of them were glorious together. Were there a King of Horses, this would be him- his muscles rippled, not bulged, beneath his stout black skin, and his grace seemed almost implausible on so great a frame. The scene was set for a glorious battle.

Weber turned away from the lights and his partner, his his small frame shaking with emotion. He raised his right hand, struggling to find words, and found himself interrupted and lifted bodily onto the horse.

"We don't have time for that kind of gesture, Weber," grunted Alexander. "Don't think I didn't see what you were thinking. Even after these battles, you have resupplied me well with mana. My Noble Phantasm, the Wisdom of Aristotle, burns strongly. Have no shame! We may yet need those Divined Seals. Do not squander them needlessly. You are my partner, my friend. We have stood side by side in battle, and shed blood together. We ride together now."

"I don't belong here," replied Weber, as he shifted around in the saddle. "This is a game between giants, and before our opponents, I am nothing. I would only slow you down."

Alexander laughed, his voice echoing along the empty street. "When we were lost in the mind-maze of Assassin, was it not you who unlocked his riddle and led us away from him? I knew not of Minotaur's secrets. And when we were hunting down Bluebeard, your own special power, the scientific method, helped us find his river lair. No, Weber, I cannot let you dismiss yourself. We are equals, each of us would be lost without the other."

Alexander punctuated his speech by clapping Weber on the back with a massive hand. Weber sighed. He wouldn't be getting out of this one so easily. He blinked the tears out of his eyes, and smiled. "Then, Alexander, my partner… let's go fight the wisest man who ever lived! Let us find victory!

—

 **Lina**

Lina was confused, but she listened as he spoke. The dawn air was damp with the memory of fog. Fitting weather, for a woman with fogged memories.

"I know. You've told me everything, and you will, because you have already told me, and I have already told you. Let's go, to fight, to die and be born, to meet each other for the first time, and to say farewell." Emiya's smile was sad, and didn't reach his eyes.

She bowed in greeting.

"We can expect to be up against the Treasurer…. but my memories are clouded, my energy is low. I don't know what happened. The… the packet has what you need to know", said Lina, and she knew not why. They had just arrived. It was the right thing to say.. she remembered that bit, at least. Yes, Emiya reacted well to this. She needed more information from her future, from his past, but it was _missing_. Had the looped transfer failed? Would she not have time to give him information that he could give her later? Where was her Prana?

What was she doing?

Lina was pensive. Something was wrong, and she didn't know why— or rather, something was wrong, _because_ she didn't know why. Lina's power was broken, her prophecy clouded by amnesia. This had never happened to Lina before. Alternative hypothesis: It had happened before, and she simply _forgot_. The thought chilled her to the bone. For all her magic, for all her transformations and spells and rituals, Lina was defined by her knowledge, by being unstuck in time. When she counseled the King, he was slow to understand the nature of her life, but she was still able to give him the knowledge she needed, to close the loop of Time needed to bring success.

Without her perception of time, they were doomed. cursed. She smiled with spite. _That ever I was born to set things right!_

"Are you ready to go? Anything wrong?" asked Emiya. Everything around him was packed up. What had ever needed so many cases and boxes? And why is the memory transfer broken?

From what she could remember, this Emiya fellow was extraordinarily helpful in that regard. The theory and knowledge of the future (past?) that he brought to the table made her nature substantially more valuable to the two of them. Lina remembered…. yes, she remembered now. When she first was summoned during the day, surrounded by rubble and death, weakened and without energy, the dark-haired man in front of her had presented her with papyrus— no, paper, it was now— bearing instructions for rituals of knowledge transfer, amongst other things. A Conceptual Grimoire, the perfect parting gift, and greeting gift. Emiya gave instructions… yes. He told her what to say. The steel-clad Automatic Grimoire was another gift. She had accepted it and…. done something. Now here she was, and the city was whole, and she was _not_.

 _Why do I have amnesia? Why can't I remember the last 5 hours? Why can't I reason? Why is there a fog on my mind?_

"No, definitely not…I can't think of anything," she breathed. Her world was closing in. Who had done this to her? Who knew mind magic like this?

The dark-haired man finished cleaning his weapon— a pistol, the Conceptual Grimoire supplied— and turned to her. His familiarity with her was unnerving, but it told her what she needed to know. She would be working with him a great deal in her future, in his past. His words were formal, though, and something strange hung about them.

The magical energies of the Conceptual Grimoire began to feed into her, and she began to understand. This Grimoire was written in her future, and she had given it to Emiya to give it to her. The loop, as they always were, was stable. Her mind begins to flood with her own knowledge, fitted like a hand to a tailored glove…

"Merlina, I thank you again for helping me so far in this war. About the amnesia: as you requested, the laptop, information packets, and paper will all be ready for you at the end. Since we're getting closer and closer to the beginning of the war for you, and the end for me, you're further from figuring out why you have amnesia. Here are the messages you wanted to give me after you figured out what the messages I will give you meant. This last conversation, in particular, has been very valuable. Are there any last things you need information about?"

"Thank you, Emiya Kiritsugu. What can I do about my amnesia right now?

Lina smiled. He knew she knew him less with every passing minute, from her perspective, and his formality was appropriate. _A man who knew the legend. We shall be great together. I will take great joy in knowing him_.

Emiya chucked softly. "So you've told me. It's a wonder we had any trouble in this contest at all. They all had Noble Phantasms, but to think, when I summoned you, you had full knowledge of the war, and I knew nothing. Merlina was never a madwoman, just a magus living backwards through time. Interesting that your colleagues couldn't figure things out. Not worth worrying about now."

The memory packet uncurled more, as Merlina reassembled her scattered memories from the start of the war, from the climactic battle that began so many wars like it began with. She gasped with revelation, and had to tell him, had to tell him before it was too late:

"The grail is tainted, Emiya. It cares not for your values, and though it tells truths, they will be as ashes on your tongue should you repeat them. It wants only destruction, and though it will not lie, it will mislead you with truths more than any charlatan could with lies. There's more, I know so much more… I have to tell you now, the shape of your future."

Emiya said, "I see you're standing up already! Good, a good debriefing. I think I've told you everything you need to know until… until the last time we spoke, before the battle. Based on what you told me then, at least. Our time loops are still broken by the Reversed Causality that he brought against us, but at least this information exchange is working. I still have the memories of you telling me all the identities and of telling you all the identities just now. Now more than ever, for the final battle, you'll need to trust me and my knowledge of my past, your future, when I trusted you and you granted me the information I needed. I know my past, your future. We should move quickly, as you said."

The debriefing unraveled, and so did the memories, and Merlina remembered what she was going to do, the memories she passed to Emiya, and that he passed to her. Things were coming back, but this close to Gae Bolg's influence, the loop was unstable. It would never be stable, not until at least a day and a half from now, a day and a half ago. She looked over at the dark-haired man as he laid out his after-action report.

 _Here's a magus who can handle the loop. Here's one like me. What horrible fate befell him that he could be so nonchalant about my reversal of time? Who is he that this doesn't fear the challenge to free will and Fate that my existence represents? Who is he to share his past with me, that I might impact my future?_

Emiya Kiritsugu, slayer of magi, continued his report, or rather, had been continuing his report. Eventually, things will wrap up with the beginning of the after-action report, then they will go to fight, and not to die. Despite his understanding of her Time, he pressed on.

 _Fate means nothing to a man like this._

Merlina sat, and joined her new master as they planned their war.


	2. Zouken

**Makiri Zouken**

August 21, 1790

Makiri Zouken was a force of nature, and he would not be stopped here.

The world was deranged, broken, tainted by the darkness that lives in man's heart. So long as man existed as he did now, so too would evil. Evil existed, yes, and how it flourished! How the ugly broken masses bled curses and poison! How the magi, sequestered in their towers, hated them! How evil spread, like blood overflowing the mouths of the peasants and flooding the rotten streets! And yet, Zouken knew that there was good, too. He was not blind: he had found it in his Justizia von Einzbern. Whereas most would be too cowardly to face the truth, she did not flinch from reality. Where so many had been drawn into the darkness they witnessed, Justizia rebuked it. She was perfect. Together, they two had the power and the control to create glory in a world of sacrilege.

Now it fell to them to find a third whose abilities would match theirs. Zouken just had to sell it to this man, and they'd have what they need.

"Look at it this way," continued Zouken. "Magic, as far as we've ever been able to understand, has been the manipulation of two subcomponents of the same force. Two faces of the same coin, if you're feeling glib. On one face is the seen element, which manifests as and is consumed in the form of Prana. On the other face is the unseen element, which can be approximated as Knowledge, or Information. Each requires the other in order for magecraft to happen. Prana alone does not a spell make, nor does knowledge. The two in conjunction, however…"

Zouken paused and took a long look across the coffee table at their target.

"... well, let's just say that we both know what can be accomplished. The ground can be split, fire burst from ashes, the exaggeration or the destruction of weakness or strength. Anything that we can imagine, we can do. And that's just our limitation, isn't it? Yes, there is power in magecraft, but there is also knowledge. That's why the two of us are seeking someone like you."

Their target, a man named Tohsaka, laughed.

"And why should this involve me?" asked the Japanese magus. "For all your talk of energy and information, I don't see where I fit in, or even why I should feel motivated to help you. I have spent a lifetime carefully developing my magecraft, and as you say, information and power are two sides of the magecraft coin. It's clear we _can_ collaborate, yes, but you have not made it clear why we ought to. This bores me! I extended this interview to you on the assumption that I would be, if nothing else, entertained. So: why should I be interested?"

Zouken frowned, but managed to bite back his snappy retort. He'd prepared for far too long to let his temper get the better of him now. Tohsaka Nagato was a proud, reckless man, and loved to needle his collaborators and enemies alike. He would have to tread carefully to protect this man's ego. The last two transfer specialists had both been unwilling to help. Tohsaka was the only remaining magus outside of the domain of the Church and Association with the expertise and morals to qualify him as a potential third partner. He had to make this happen.

"You should be interested, my colleague, because we seek what you seek. We want your help because, jointly, we can reach Akasha." Zouken paused for a moment to observe, and for the first time during the discussion, Tohsaka looked surprised.

Justizia von Einzbern jumped into the momentary lull of the conversation. "We can do it, we three. Our individual magecrafts, combined, can create something beyond that imaginable by any mage before or beyond this moment. Together, we can devise a joint ritual that reaches past this mortal realm and into the next, outside of time and space."

"You- you know how to open a path to the root?" asked Tohsaka.

Zouken had to admit, he put on a good front. You almost couldn't see through the mask of bafflement and amusement to the greed in his eyes.

Justizia laughed. "Of course not. If I knew how to do that, why would I be here with you? No, I know how we might create a device that would reveal that to us. Each of us specializes in a different branch of magecraft that together might be used in its creation. The Einzbern family magecraft is artifice and generation, the Makiri family magecraft is interaction, interface, and control, and the Tohsaka family magecraft-"

"-is transfer and congealment of energy," finished Tohsaka, waving his hand lazily as he regained his composure. "I see it now. You'll create an artifact to shape power, I'll fill it using the Ley Lines of my city and my transfer abilities, and Zouken will wrestle it to our will and control using his magecraft. The three of us together would be able to wield more raw energy than any individual magus- no, more than any group, regardless of size, ever has before. We would tap directly into Mana, push it through a sieve and a funnel, and bind the flow to our wills. A clever weapon."

Zouken smiled. "We need to work far away from the western powers, as both the Church and the Mage's Association are disrupting any productive activity in the West or the New World. Only here is there the stability we crave, and you are the greatest transfer magus. Together, we could-"

"Right, right," interrupted Tohsaka. He sighed, and pushed his free hand against his forhead. "You two should know you constitute the fourth group to approach me in as many years with something like this. What a pain. You all have this plan for a great magecraft that would make lesser men tremble, and you need my help to bring this dark ritual into the sunlight. Only I can do it, we can combine our powers, I get it. None of you actually understand what I want, though. I'm not all talk. I'm the real deal."

"I'm not here to make lesser men tremble. That's what all you dreamers don't realize. This project doesn't interest me at all. I don't see how this ritual would open a path to Akasha. Lack of power isn't actually the problem with reaching Akasha. This device would make a wonderful weapon, I'm sure, but Akasha is _beyond_ space, not a particular fortified space. I'm not researching a change in scale, I'm looking for a change of kind, of type. More information or more infotime as you outlined before lunch won't do this for me. It is outside time, not some greater time or even the greatest time. It's not one of your control problems to be solved, or a shape you need to fill with an artifact. You cannot punch through to Akasha, you can only create a truth for it to populate. My own work towards perfection of form have shown that this is the only way."

"You misunderstand our goal," said Justizia. "Although this ritual will shape Mana, it will also shape the other side of the coin, Information. The artifact will absorb massive amounts of information-with your help, that is- and with my help, it will shape that information into a form a human mind can touch. The Makiri magecraft of control will generate an interface with which we can communicate in a meaningful way. Yes, this will be a device of great power, but it will be more than that: it will be a device of great knowledge. I describe not a difference of scale, but of scope. Hmm, how could I explain this…"

Zouken coughed politely. "Let me handle this. Tohsaka: consider any unanswered question, one that would take a thousand sages a thousand years of contemplation, or a thousand wandering poets a thousand experiences of song to really understand. Surely you know the sort of thing I'm talking about. Let us start with the simplest sort of the problem. There is an entire classification of problem that defies deconstruction by maginformatic spells. For example, many novices are taught a maginformatic rhyme-recognizing chant. The one I learned was _Rygaz_. With a simple flow of prana and the right incantation and shaping, _Rygaz_ will inform you whether or not the presented lines rhyme."

"I don't see how this responds to my objection," interrupted Tohsaka. " _Rygaz_ spells aren't even in the same classification of problem as my interests."

As Tohsaka took a sip of his tea, Zouken cracked a wide smile. Any response from the man was good. Keeping his interest here was key.

"Ah, well now you see it, don't you? _Rygaz_ is what we call a verification or answer-checking rank maginformatic spell. In fact, almost all maginformatic spells are verification-rank. For example, consider the rhyme-generating spell that you likely tried to build after learning Rygaz. Like us, you probably found the task nearly impossible. Isn't it curious, how much easier it is to check these things than to generate them with magecraft?"

At Tohsaka's nod, Zouken pressed on.

"I went further than most magi in pursuit of this 'rhyming spell' and actually got something fairly serviceable. No, don't look surprised, it's not what you think. I created an energy-intensive spell with the information for a large number of words built in. My spell rapidly compares words fed to it to generate rhymes, effectively running a massive number of _Rygaz_ checks. In fact, when used in conjunction with _Rygaz_ , it does acceptable job of producing basic rhymes that _Rygaz_ confirms as compliant. Effectively, I had to create a vessel to fill with logic and prana, and after filling it, it was able to quickly narrow down the possibilities. The only limit was the size of the field I was willing to work with, and the prana input. With a large enough vessel, though, there's no reason this would be limited to rhymes. We can shape the Mana and information travelling into the vessel, command it ourselves, and get a perfect answer to any question."

Tohsaka somehow managed to look unimpressed. Zouken pinched his nose at the silence. _Just a raised eyebrow from the haughty man? Does he not get it, or is his poker face just that good?_

It was time to press the issue. Zouken leaned forwards. "Surely, you see how this will take us to Akasha, don't you? You could find the perfect state of mind, or the perfect instructions for a ritual, with a device like this. This device would be Divination turned Sorcery, the eyes of God made flesh, a Divine Grail the likes of which our world has never seen. We don't need to and probably can't build a device that will discover the path to Akasha, but we could build a device that can _check_ if a path leads to Akasha, and feed it so much information that it finds it for us. Think about it! We can reach outside of time, Tohsaka Nagato. We can create the paradise beyond any imagining- beyond any _possible_ imagining- of Man."

Though his body was stiff, Tohsaka's fingers twitched around his teacup. Moreover, his eyes gleamed with avarice. _I've got him now_ , thought Zouken. _I just need to reel him in..._

"Justizia and I have been looking for someone with the moral character and the magical talent necessary to help us. We come to you not because you are strong, though you are; but also because you are righteous. With your land, your powers, and your moral compass, there is no-one better suited for the task than you. We offer you an equal partnership, as we know you would accept no less, not in a task of this greatness. Of course, there's more to the outline than just that. I don't want to bore you with the details… not if you have other matters to attend to."

Tohsaka set his cup down with a clatter. "Don't worry about taking up my time. I'll clear my other appointments for the day. Keep talking: I'm listening."

Justizia frowned at Zouken as Tohsaka spoke with a servant. Had he pushed too far again? No matter. It was worth it, and Justizia would forgive him another transgression of manners in pursuit of their mission.

 **Wise Up!**

 **The Divine Grail**

The product of three powerful magics, The Divine Grail is the ultimate manipulator and computer of prana and data. It was built centuries ago by the Tohsaka, Einzbern, and Matou families. The Tohsaka magic of Transfer and Storage allows the Grail to rest on ley lines and gather energy and information over long periods of time. The Einzbern magic of Artifice created the physical vessel and provided a structure and skeleton for the grail to be fleshed out. The Matou magic of Programming and User Interface allows for a mortal to control the grail in a meaningful way. Every sixty years, The Divine Grail builds up enough energy and information to activate. In its active form, it can answer any question..

The Divine Grail manifests some of its data and energy to mark seven Magi as Masters, who will use its power to summon Servants to do battle for the right to ask their questions. The last Master-Servant pair standing is victorious. The original purpose of the artifact was to learn how to reach Akasha, but it has never been used that way.

 **Wise up!**

 **Divined Seals**

Each Master is granted three Divined Seals by the Grail. Each seal is a tiny portion of the Grail's power, a miracle made mundane: power and information congealed into a single mark. A Divined Seal can control a servant, or exercise a miracle of knowledge and information on the spot.


End file.
